Local legislators say Springfield is ripe for reform

Speaking to the Lisle Area of Chamber of Commerce last week, two local Republican legislators vowed to press on for ethics reform before agreeing to tax increases to address Illinois' looming budget deficit.

A third acknowledged that partisan gridlock in Springfield has him looking for another job.

"I would say they're not unrelated," said State Sen. Dan Cronin, an Elmhurst Republican, when asked whether frustration with Springfield had prompted his bid for DuPage County Board chairman.

"Running for DuPage County Board chairman is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate how we can do it better here."

Cronin, one of four declared candidates for the GOP nomination to lead the county board, has served in the state Senate since 1993. When he started, the legislature was a part-time body that did its work and went home, he said.

That has changed since Democrats have controlled both the executive and legislative branches, he said.

"They have big ideas that require big government," Cronin said. "With all the time we spend down there, productivity has gone down."

Cronin said the state's financial problems can be addressed only with a multiyear spending diet.

"There's no easy answers at this point," he said.

State Rep. Sandra Pihos, a Republican from Glen Ellyn who has served in the Illinois House since 2003, said she is running for re-election in 2010.

"I really love my job," she said.

But Pihos agreed that Springfield is in need of reform. Gov. Patrick Quinn's proposed income tax increase should continue to be rejected until action is taken on the proposals made by the Illinois Reform Commission that he appointed, she said.

"We are still working very hard to put that reform package in place," she said.

With redistricting coming up, Pihos said the Illinois House will consider a proposal for computer-generated redistricting to replace the current partisan system of gerrymandering legislative districts.

State Rep. Mike Connelly, a rookie legislator from Lisle, said he has been appointed to the bipartisan House task force on Government Reform and Spending Reductions. The task force will be looking for private solutions that can apply to government, he said.

"This issue (reform) is not going away," he said. "It's high time. It has to happen."

Asked about what the state is doing to help local businesses, Pihos said the capital projects bill should stimulate the economy. Connelly said Illinois must be made more friendly to investors. Cronin called for minimizing government's role in matters that should be left to the private sector.

Keith Tice, chairman of the chamber's government affairs committee, which prepared questions for the legislators, said their answers were good, but he would have liked more detail.

The three main concerns of local businesses are revenue growth, the impact of pending regulations that could come with health care reform, and the potential increase in corporate or personal taxes, he said.